Killer’s Friend Tells of Trying to Reform Him

A friend of an Inglewood man convicted in the killing of a Los Angeles police officer and an innocent passerby told a Superior Court jury Wednesday how she desperately tried to steer him away from gang life.

Renata Herrera, a longtime confidant and former high school girlfriend of Jaime “Alex” Mares, several times caused defense lawyer Marcia Morrisey to become emotional as she described Mares as a “shy, quiet” man who too often thought “with his heart instead of his head.”

That description contrasted sharply with the self-centered murderer that prosecutors portrayed in urging jurors to recommend death.

The jury of eight men and four women convicted Mares last week of being an accomplice to another gang member in the drive-by shooting of Gerardo Sernas, 18, and the shooting death of Los Angeles Police Officer Brian Brown, 27. Now the jury has to decide whether to recommend that he be put to death or that he receive life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Morrisey’s show of emotion prompted Deputy Dist. Atty. Keri Modder to complain to Judge William Pounders during a break.

“Your honor, defense counsel cried more than the witness,” Modder said.

Morrisey made no excuse for her behavior.

“I can’t help being emotional,” she responded.

Pounders did not fault Morrisey, except to say that perhaps she should have asked for a break to regain her composure. At least one juror dabbed at her eyes during Herrera’s testimony.

Herrera, 25, frequently broke down as she told about a relationship that began when she was a 16-year-old student at Venice High School. Mares was 15.

Herrera said she could not believe that Mares was involved in the deaths of two people.

“That’s not the Alex I know,” she said.

She said she and Mares dated for about 18 months, and then remained close friends even after he transferred to Inglewood High School. He then began associating with gang members and got involved in a drive-by shooting in 1993, she said.

“I was trying to help him get away from that,” Herrera said.

She said her friend’s gang involvement deepened when he started dating a woman who also associated with gang members. Shortly after the woman had Mares’ child, he was arrested and eventually convicted of involvement in a robbery, she said.

Because of that incident, Herrera temporarily ended their relationship.

But when he got out of jail, Mares promised her he would quit the gang, Herrera said.

“I said if he was ready to help himself, I was ready to help him again.”

She said his attitude and behavior changed dramatically, as he took an interest in his newborn child and went to work in a warehouse.

Even with Mares now convicted of participating in the deaths of Brown and Sernas, Herrera said she will always support him.

Herrera’s testimony came after Mares’ mother, Isabel Mares, 46, told how she tried to get him counseling and other help. But nothing worked.

“He was trying to fit into a group that he did not belong to,” she said.

She conceded that her son “has to be punished” but said it should not be with the death penalty.

“I feel for their families,” she said, referring to the relatives of the two dead men.